See you on the Battlefield
by hic hiccup hic
Summary: It’s not a love story. There is no such thing as love on the chessboard. There is no such thing as love in a war. There is no such thing as love on the battlefield. In place you have us. What’s the point? In the end, we all die. It’s funny, isn’t it?


It was a tender kiss, compassionate, pleading, and tragic. The last.

Their story is funny. Not humorously funny, no, not comically funny, no, not idiotically funny, no, but ironically and strangely funny. They met on the battlefield, and they died on the battlefield.

It's funny.

There are two types of romantics in the world. The type who believe in love and the type who do not. The type who idolize Romeo and Juliet and the type who laugh at their death.

They denied it when we say they were the Romeo and Juliet of the time. Merely because they did not believe in such silly thing.

It's very funny. I think it's very funny.

It's the tale… no… story… no…

It's the legend of Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley. It's not a love story.

It's funny.

Be assured.

XXX

They waited. So long were hearing stories of great war scenes; men in helmets, screaming in a war rage horseback. This was war.

There were about 100 of them, about half of them members of the Order, and the other half aurors. They stood in a huddle, a strategically planned out course made a week in advance by Remus Lupin, Mad-Eye Moody, and Ronald Weasley. Harry was taking a shower.

As Ron called it, it was like a game of chess. In the end, what it comes down to is how much better you are than the opposing. How better prepared you were. How much more you've thought before hand.

The Order was bound to lose, but this time, it was not about winning. This time, their sole purpose was taking down at least a hand full of the Death Eaters. They had even constructed a list: Lucius and Draco Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, and lastly, their own Severus Snape.

"I'm sure many of you feel what I feel right now. Excitement." Harry declared. The faces of 100 men and women stared back at him. Harry gulped. "Maybe not. But I've never been more excited in my life."

"Harry, you do know we're going into war in less than a minute and half of us are going to die." Hermione whispered from behind him.

"I'm getting there. I'm excited. But at the same time, I feel loss."

"Quickly, Harry, quickly." Ginny murmured, scanning the room.

"I can not describe how proud I am. I cannot describe how honored I am. Wizards, witches, loved ones, hated ones… we are all one. And we are all fighting for one."

"Quickly before it gets cheesy, Harry." Ginny muttered.

"But, I must beg you of now. I may seem like a fool, and I may seem greedy to you, but you can't blame me. I wasn't raised properly enough. We have five people we need to kill and let's do it today."

"I didn't see that coming. I expected something like 'you'll all remain in my heart forever and ever amen.'" Ginny whispered to Hermione, sniggering.

"Under Moony- I mean, Lupin's orders and Mad-Eye Moody's I am to leave merely fifteen minutes into the war for my health." Harry rolled his eyes. "I know, I wasn't too happy either. But I have one favor."

"Let my people go." Ginny breathed under her breath, receiving a push from a chortling Hermione.

"Please, please do not kill Severus Snape."

"What?" Ron asked, sitting up straight.

"Severus Snape will die under my hands."

"That's more like it." Ron said, relaxing.

After a hesitant moment, another voice from the crowd immerged.

"I have a favor too."

"Hey, look, it's Neville!"

"I would love nothing more than to avenge my parent's state of mind. I will kill Bellatrix Lestrange."

"Wonderful. Let's all go around claiming a death eater to kill. I get Malfoy." Ron said.

"Which one?" Hermione asked.

"Either."

"Good. I'll take the other one." Hermione said cheerfully.

Soon, the whole room began to chatter, joking around, and gossiping. In moments, they were all in high risks of dying. In moments, their lives were to be changed, yet at the moment, there was nothing more important than the newest edition of Witch Weekly's.

Nobody knew that they had come until a shrill scream awoke from the edge. Ludo Bagman, though not missed much, lay on the ground cold and gray. Silence held the air.

And there was war. Ginny marveled at the pretty colors, the clashing of mix matched spells. Sparks cascading off the walls. There was panic and there was frenzy, yet controlled chaos. It seemed to her as if everyone knew what they were doing. Running to a certain spot as if they were ordered to. Turning at the perfect moment to defend themselves.

Ginny stood where she was the whole time. This war erupting all around her and there she was staring dumbfoundedly at it. There in the corner, she saw Hermione fighting MacNair, a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead. Ron was nearby, jumping up and down, managing barely to escape every spell being thrown at him. Tonks was right behind Ron, fighting Crabbe. Only when she heard Neville scream did Ginny wake up from this nightmare.

She ran.

Neville was not hard to place. He was creating the most noise and the most pandemonium. At first, Ginny thought he was crucio'd but she only found out later that all those screams and yells emitting from him were his war cries.

The woman he was fighting was Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Screaming like a girl won't make you beat me, boy!" She cried out, with an irritated voice.

"-WHORE! YOU FILTHY, HEARTLESS- I'LL KILL YOU-"

Was this a joke? Was Ginny actually in middle of war? Were people actually dying?

It was funny.

Soon, she began to get agitated. Why was it that she was standing dead center of all this, yet nobody had even _tried _to touch her or point their wand in her direction? Honestly, Ginny was sick and tired of always being the one to make the first move.

"You seem a bit lost, Weasley. Perhaps you don't know your plan well enough."

Her first thought was that he had grown taller. Unlike most of his comrades, his mask was entirely disregarded. His boyish blond hair was almost laughable amidst all the black in the room. He was slightly sweaty and had a small scar above his eyebrow. Yet, his cheeks glowed and his eyes shined. He seemed to her almost like a little boy ready to open birthday presents. He seemed almost too energized.

"Oh, hello, Malfoy. Are _you _going to fight me?"

"I can. I will."

"That's great. I was getting really bored. What have you been up to?"

"Oh, I don't know… a little bit of this, a little bit of that. I was just about to jump Potter when I noticed you looked a bit lonely."

"I was getting a bit lonely, actually. It was like nobody wanted to fight me or something."

"Well of course, we're all scared of you."

"Really? How so?"

"Because nobody wants to touch you." Draco said.

"Why?"

"Well, we may be ruthless, but we never ever harm beautiful women."

Ginny grinned. "You flatter me so, Malfoy. Do you think we should fight or something?"

"I'm a bit tired. I may need a break. Maybe later. How was your summer so far?"

"Rather boring. Can't do much since I'm not at school so I'm just moping around really, cleaning the house."

"Same here. This is the most fun I've had all year, actually."

"Really? What have you been doing?"

"I got grounded so I couldn't go out. I stayed and helped out my mom a little. Learned to cook actually."

"Grounded? What'd you do?"

"Well, you know, being locked up inside a house can get pretty boring so I went and drew on Father's undergarments."

Ginny laughed. "Stylish."

"That's what I said. He extended it another month."

"Oh, well, I don't blame you. I even actually went out to help my brother's joke shop once, even though I vowed that I'd never do that."

"I've seen it. It's a right piece of work, I'd hate to admit. Why wouldn't you want to work there?"

"I'm scared." She said simply

"Why?"

"Because I know they'll take advantage of me and make me their guinea pig."

"True that."

From a few feet away, they suddenly heard Neville screaming again.

"That screaming of his is driving me insane." Draco said, glancing at the red-faced Neville.

"Tell me about it. I never knew he had that in him."

"Me neither. He's been going on the whole time."

Ginny nodded. "I noticed. I thought he was dying. Speaking of dying, who killed Bagman?"

"I did." Draco said, observing her.

"Oh, God bless you."

Draco laughed. "Surprisingly, you're not the only one's who's said that today. I swear, Mad-Eye Moody just patted my shoulder saying thank you when I walked by him earlier."

"Nobody can blame you. I was actually sort of hoping he'd be the first to go."

"Now now, don't say that."

"I won't. Should we fight or something now?"

The two of them looked around. A dozen bodies lay on the ground but the chaos ensued.

"We have time. To tell you the truth, Malfoy, I never expected this from you."

"Me neither. But I don't feel too bad; I did get to kill Bagman and stun a few others."

"Lucky."

"I guess it all just comes from being locked up all summer. I was getting unbearably lonely. I actually even started talking to my house elves."

"No way!"

"Yes way. Oh well, next time, we'll be better."

"Yes, we will. Maybe I'll even use my wand next time."

Draco chuckled. "Maybe you will. Listen- I really needed to come out here and prove myself and fight for the Dark Lord, but, I know this is very uncharacteristic, but I'm actually glad I got to talk to you."

"I never thought I'd say this to you either, but I am too."

"But, next time, we'll do better."

Ginny smiled sadly. "I guess we all needed this. You know, just to talk, have some fun…"

Draco looked up at the gray mist above them. "I think you guys won. I see we're surrendering."

"NO way! All this time, we were saying that we weren't going to win this one anyway."

"The glass is always half full, Weasley."

"See you on the battlefield."

Draco smiled and disappeared into a puff of black smoke.

It was funny.

How they had spent their whole lives being the best enemies and when they had the chance to pursue their dreams, they had shared a friendly bond, just dancing along the edge of flirtation.

XXX

"We knocked them dead." Lupin said, holding out his butter beer. "Congratulations!"

"How'd we do with numbers?" Tonks asked.

"Two killed, but Bagman doesn't count. Thank God for Draco Malfoy. Six in critical condition and eleven with minor damages."

"What about them?"

"We nailed Crabbe, Goyle, Lucius Malfoy, MacNair, and Bellatrix Lestrange, thanks to Neville." The room cheered, and Neville turned red.

"_And why do you think you can beat me when your parents just seemed to fall right to my feet?"_

"_STUPEFY! IMPEDIMENTA! TARANTELLEGRA!" Neville shouted, missing her every time._

"_You're really pathetic boy. I could be doing better things right now."_

"_CRUCIO! CRUCIO!"_

"_You'll never be able to do anything right, boy." Bellatrix said lazily. "For instance, you do not know how to pull off an unforgivable curse."_

_Neville roared. "I DO KNOW HOW TO DO AN UNFORGIVABLE CURSE."_

"_Couldn't you quiet down? You do realize that you are the loudest one of the bunch, right?"_

"_-AND I KNOW THAT TO DO ONE, YOU NEED TO WANT TO DO IT. YOU NEED TO WANT THEM TO FEEL THE PAIN."_

"_Oh wow, you DO know something."_

"_AND YOU KNOW WHAT I ALSO KNOW?"_

"_Enlighten me."_

"_YOU RUINED MY PARENT. AND I WANT YOU TO DIE. I WANT TO SEE YOU WRITHING IN AGONY, SCREAMING, CRYING FOR HELP."_

"_HA! And you think you can do that?"_

"_CRUCIO"_

_Bellatrix fell to the ground with a scream. Her joints and limbs seemed to disjoint from each other. She spazzed uncontrollably on the ground. _

"_I believe I just did." Neville said. "IMPERIO!"_

_Bellatrix stopped shaking and instead, a pained expression held her face. Neville moved his wand up slowly and Bellatrix moved with the movement of his wand. _

"_I'm a gentleman and I don't hurt ladies." Neville said, sweat now pouring down his face and his smile almost crooked and evil. "But there's nothing wrong with hurting yourself." With that, Neville's wand moved to her pocket as her hand did as well. Her wand in her hand, Bellatrix, with her stony, painful expression pointed the tip to herself. _

"_Tarantallegra" She whispered, and she began to jerk._

"_THAT'S FOR SIRIUS BLACK." Neville cried triumphantly._

"_Levicorpus" she said again, her body immediately flying through the air._

"_THAT'S FOR CRUICIO-ING ME TWO YEARS AGO."_

"_Sectumsempra" she muttered. Blood seemed to rip out from every part of her body. She whimpered and fell to the floor._

"_AND THAT- THAT IS FOR MY PARENTS."_

"_Avada Kedavra." She said weakly to herself, her body now lying in a puddle of blood. She was already dying. Her head hit the hard rock floor beneath them. Death by her own wand._

"_AND THAT. THAT'S FROM ALL OF US."_

XXX

To Ginny now, war was a joke. Maybe if her first experience hadn't been what it was, she would actually have set morals and standards. But as for now, it was all a joke. Fighting the death eaters and Voldemort now, to her, seemed juvenile and immature. It had lost its flavor and its fun.

When she came home that night, her mother had gathered her in her arms and cried endlessly. They later joked that Mrs. Weasley watched their clock for the whole hour and had noticed that while the men of the family were all in 'mortal peril,' Ginny's hand was at 'safe.'

Ginny laughed but not for long. Ginny was safe. While everyone else worried every second of their life whether or not they'll live to see the next day or not, she was safe. Instead of relief, she felt disappointment, which puzzled her even further. Did she _want _to die? Did she _want _to be in danger?

And now, it seemed to be a sick joke.

When the second war was announced, Ginny sighed. The only thing that motivated her to go was to see Draco. She knew it'd be different this time; they had even said it. But she still hoped that she would see him. That she'll see his eyes shining again and his cheeks glowing. An enemy, but a good one. She hoped that maybe his determination to fight and his loyalty will motivate her. Maybe he might even help her become more in favor of the inevitable war.

It was not love. It was not lust. It was not a crush. She simply needed him. She needed backup. She needed someone who thought as she did. Someone who would fight her like he would have.

And the days of autumn passed by slowly and Ginny awaited winter, and along with that, the second war.

XXX

The plan this time, constructed by Tonks, Lupin, Hermione, and Neville, was to arrive fashionably late. It was a place they were all familiar with: Hogwarts.

And when they came, all 140 of them, Hogwarts was already marked. A death eater sign hung over the cold night sky.

All but 6 of them, Tonks, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Neville, and Bill, stayed in the air for a cue. The six young ones tiptoed down from the Astronomy tower into the school.

As they approached closer, Ginny heard a voice first, coming from outside the great wall. They stopped five staircases above the faint noises. Then, they all took out a shiny wrapper, aka Extendable Ears and listened.

"… our last defeat was miserable. We lost our closest and strongest fighters."

Suddenly, Ginny wanted to see Draco's face. Was he happy his father was gone? Or…

"…Let us not let our Dark Lord down. We must be ruthless. We must be cruel in every possible way. WE must show that we are indeed back. This time, we will kill. I do not want to see red coming from your wands. The only color I want to see is green. WE must kill. Young or old, woman or man… b-beautiful or demented"

That voice belonged to Draco.

She ran back the stairs and after a few moments, heard the five of them follow her. Outside again, in the Astronomy tower, she met Lupin and the rest of crew.

"What is it? Are they here?" He asked Ginny. She ignored him, and fled, grabbing her broom and flying down to the ground.

"Ginny!" Hermione yelled.

"Leave her be." Mad-Eye said. "I saw her last time. She didn't even touch her wand."

"But-"

"Ginny's not the issue. We don't have time right now for this. Let's go." Lupin said weakly.

Ginny knew, as she trekked across the snow that it started. Like previously, it began with a bang.

It was getting old.

Suddenly, Ginny hated this war.

It was almost funny.

XXX

"I was looking for you."

Ginny turned around and there he stood. The boy she had been wanting to see, to talk to since the end of summer.

"To do what- to kill me?"

Draco frowned. "I don't know."

"How's the war going?"

"I'm not too sure. The surprise attack from your part lost us a few but there are people dead from both sides."

"That's great." Ginny said.

"Hogwarts is virtually destroyed now. Everyone's outside- that's why I'm here."

"Well then, kill me quick and go on with your brave fighting."

"Really- what's wrong with you? I wanted to see you all this time and you're acting like this?"

"Have you ever been in love?" Ginny asked.

"No. I don't believe in love."

"Me neither."

"What's wrong. Tell me."

"I know you're going to kill me, Malfoy. Why don't you just get it over with?"

"What makes you so sure that I want to kill you?" Draco asked.

"WE must kill. Young or old, woman or man… b-beautiful or demented." Ginny quoted, imitating his voice. "It was a touching pep talk, Malfoy."

Draco kicked the snow and looked down. "Come on."

"Well, it was coming anyways. I guess we all die sometime."

"There's a difference between being killed and dying."

"You're right. Tell me- what's the difference?"

Draco grabbed his hair and kicked harder. "I didn't mean it, Ginny! God damn- God _fuck. _I just don't know anymore."

"Is this your method of stalling time? I'd rather just die now. The faster the better."

"I wanted to see you. I wanted to talk. I got lonely. I was excited to come here today- not to fight, but maybe I could see you today. Maybe we'll meet on the battlefield. And I got angry. I got mad at this war."

"That you couldn't kill me faster."

"These past few months have been the hardest. There was nobody with human emotions around me. I said that because I had to. I forgot what feeling anything was like."

Ginny ignored him and sighed.

"And I saw you and I felt again. I don't think I can kill you anymore." Draco said.

"Just do it. Don't lie to me now."

"I'M NOT GOING TO KILL YOU."

"Yes you will. You will kill me. That's how we are, Malfoy. No matter what. Even if we are both survivors, we'd- we're better off dying."

"No- don't say that."

"Why? Am I wrong? You came to find me to kill me. You know, I was thinking. This whole time, I sat here thinking. And I think now and this whole thing… it's a joke. It's a joke that's not funny, but it's a joke. Funny, isn't it? Isn't it?"

Draco stared helplessly at Ginny as she continued on.

"I've never really believed in love, Malfoy. I never will, either. Funny, isn't it? This whole war… it's funny. We're fighting, but what for? We all die in the end."

"You don't get it. There's a difference between dying and being killed."

"No there isn't because either way, we're dead and it's all over. It's funny. This is funny."

"Com-"

Ginny stood up and walked over to where Draco was. And here, Draco could finally actually see her. Her face was expressionless but her eyes were brimmed with tears.

"What's the point, Draco? What's the point when we all die in the end?"

His mind went numb and 17 years of discipline slipped away with his tears. Malfoys weren't to cry. Malfoys couldn't show emotion, yet, it was funny.

It was a tender kiss, compassionate, pleading, and tragic. The last.

And Ginny knew. She kissed him like she wouldn't see tomorrow. She kissed him with her life's worth of compassion. She kissed him as if her life depended on it. She kissed him like this was her last kiss.

And even when they separated, Draco held her close. Once he let go, it was over. He couldn't control himself. He hadn't ever learned how to cry or cry properly. They were hot tears and they bit into his icy cheeks. He held her. He held her close. Everything he was seemed to vanish. They were hot tears.

At first, he thought she had bewitched him. He hadn't meant to move his hand. He didn't realize it was slipping into his pocket. He didn't know how his wand got into his fingers.

Ginny spoke. "Are you going to kill me now?"

They were hot tears.

Draco's head nodded. He held her tighter.

"Maybe in our next life. In our next life, I will find you. Maybe you and I will believe in love in our next life. Maybe we can be lovers. I will find you. Life is like a chessboard. Life is like a war. Life is like a battlefield. Maybe in our next life, we can be lovers." She whispered.

Slowly, Ginny began to pull away. Draco held onto the last fiber of her being. Her face glistened with tears.

They stood, looking eye to eye.

Ginny grinned. "It's funny, isn't it?"

Could Draco wait until the next life?

Ginny leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "See you on the battlefield."

Surprisingly, his wand was steady. It made him curious; his entire body was shaking madly, yet his wand remained pointed directly at Ginny. Maybe it was destiny.

She blinked.

"Avada Kedavra."

XXX

That's it.

That's our story- I mean, legend.

This is no Romeo and Juliet love story. In our story- I mean, legend, Romeo killed Juliet, went back to the battlefield, raged on, killed another dozen, and am now sitting in Azkaban, only barely alive with this memory. And now I pass this onto you. It's time- I want my next life now.

It's not a love story.

There is no such thing as love on the chessboard. There is no such thing as love in a war. There is no such thing as love on the battlefield.

In place you have us.

Were we wrong? Were we in love? Were we fools?

But does that matter?

Because in the end, we all die.

What's the point? What's the point when we all die?

It's funny, isn't it?

XXX

We're all to blame

We're trying so hard,  
We're dying in vain,  
From pride to shame,  
We're hopelessly blissful and blind  
When all we need  
Is something true  
To believe,  
Don't we all?  
Everyone, everyone,  
We will fall.

XXX

ACCK!

I know it's not the best written piece of tragedy you've ever read, but it's my first tragic story.

Like, for instance, I know some middle parts need work but I'm tired and sleepy and lazy.

I hope it made you cry.

Song- we're all to blame by sum41

Love always-


End file.
